FAYETTEVILLE — A productive fifth inning at the plate spurred the Richmond Senior High School baseball team to its second consecutive win on Friday.
Completing the season series win over Jack Britt High School, the Raiders and head coach Rob Ransom earned a 7-3 victory.
Trailing by a run to start the fifth frame, the Raiders sent eight batters to the dish and scored four runs to get ahead for good. Two insurance runs in the top of the sixth secured the sweep of the Buccaneers.
Facing starting pitcher Quinn Maykish, the Raiders missed some early opportunities to score. Richmond stranded two runners on base in the first, and another in the third. Ransom said the team needs to do a better job jumping ahead early.
“We came off the bus a little flat and we didn’t score runs when we should have off of (Maykish),” Ransom said. “We needed to take advantage of having guys on base earlier in games. We talked afterward about being ready to play when we get off the bus.
“That has to do with our maturity,” he added. “But we played a little better tonight and had some big hits in some big at-bats.”
Getting his second start this season, junior Cameron Way pitched five innings for the Raiders to collect the win. He allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and struck out four batters.
Fellow junior pitcher Will Dawkins tossed the final two innings of relief, and gave up one unearned run on no hits, while collecting two punchouts.
Junior pitcher Cameron Way throws a pitch during the first inning of Friday’s win. (Kyle Pillar)
“Cameron kept us in the game, he’s a competitor,” Ransom said of Way. “He pitched well enough to get the win, and Will came in and threw strikes late.
Another issue Ransom addressed with the team was its six errors in the game. He said the Raiders “just have to keep trying to limit our mistakes.”
Jack Britt took a 1-0 lead on a Sebastian Benetiz RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.
But to end the inning, junior center fielder Tony Gathings started a relay to freshman shortstop Camron Seagraves who went home to junior catcher Colin Wheeler, who nabbed Brandon Novy trying to score on the hit.
The Raiders got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when senior Michael Pettitt (leadoff walk) scored on a passed ball by relief pitcher Marcus Novy. Pettitt had stolen second and raced to third on a throwing error on the same play.
Jack Britt went ahead by a run when Cooper Edwards scored on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.
Richmond responded with four runs in the top of the fifth, starting with a leadoff walk by sophomore Ethan Clayton, who was called up from junior varsity.
Junior courtesy runner Chandler Orr replaced Clayton, and scored two at-bats later when junior Alston Johnson hit a line drive RBI knock to left.
Way followed in the next at-bat with a single to left, moving Johnson to third from second (steal) and raced to second base on the throw. With runners on second and third, junior Matthew Walker put Richmond up 3-2 with an RBI single to left, scoring Johnson.
Junior Matthew Walker connects on an RBI single to put Richmond up during the fifth inning. (Kyle Pillar).
Moving to third was Way, and Walker made a heads-up play to run to second on the throw to the plate.
With two outs, senior Hunter Hancock put the ball in play and reached safely on a throwing error by the shortstop. That allowed Way and Walker to both cross home and put Richmond ahead 5-2.
“I knew I really needed to get that RBI down, and I was a little early on it,” Johnson said of his scoring play that started the rally.
“Baseball is a game of little bloopers or hitting it hard right at somebody, and my RBI single moved the energy up a little bit and got the team hyped. And we started playing a little better from that point.”
In his final inning of work, Way faced just four batters in the bottom of the fifth, collected his final two strikeouts and stranded a runner.
Jack Britt inserted Austin Keen on the mound to start the sixth, and Seagraves (single) and Clayton (walk) got on base with no outs. In the next at-bat, Gathings delivered with a two-RBI linedrive single to center, plating both insurance runs to put the Raiders up 7-2.
“I missed a bunt and then I swung away,” Gathings explained. “I got a pitch down the middle and found the gap to drive in the runs. That helped seal the deal, but I want to do a better job staying ahead in the count.
“This win helps give us confidence and hopefully will get us to start pushing the rest of the season,” he added. “If we put more heart into our practices, and play like we did tonight, that’ll lead to more wins.”
Senior Tony Gathings records an out in Friday’s win over Jack Britt, which he also plated two RBIs. (Kyle Pillar)
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Marcus Novy reached on an error and made it to third on the same play. He scored the Buccaneers’ final run on a passed ball.
Dawkins locked in to get a lineout and a strikeout to end the frame, and got three straight outs in the seventh to end the game after an error and a walk put two on with no outs.
Richmond had seven hits in the game, with Way and Seagraves both collecting two. Gathings, Johnson and Walker all had one hit, while Gathings’ two RBIs were a team high.
Johnson and Walker also accounted for one RBI each. Seven different Raiders crossed the plate to score a run in the win.
“We need to continue to help ourselves,” Ransom said. “A lot of runs we’re giving up come from walks and errors. Until we start to clean that up, we’ll still be in tight ball games.
“It’s senior night on Tuesday and I expect the guys to come out and play hard,” he closed. “We have academic awards that night, there are a lot of well-rounded guys on our team and we’ll try to be mentally focused at home and support our seniors.”
Looking to continue their wave of momentum, the Raiders (2-4 Sandhills Athletic Conference) will host Hoke County High School (0-6, 0-4 SAC) on Tuesday for senior night.
Richmond’s three seniors — Tony Gathings, Hunter Hancock and Michaell Pettitt — will be recognized before the game.
